Japan, one of the most advanced countries when it comes to mobile phones, but also one of the few that until now didn't get the chance to announce the availability of the iPhone on its territory, has finally made a deal with Apple in order to offer the world-famous touchscreen handset. Sure, the deal was not made by Japan itself, as a state (that would have been weird), but by Softbank, the number three mobile operator in the country.

The future availability of the iPhone in Japan is a 100% sure thing, since the announcement was made today on Softbank's website, found at this address. As all the latest iPhone-related announcements, the new one comes with no clear details, including only the fact that Japanese users will be able to buy the device sometime later this year.

There's no word if the future iPhone to be offered by Softbank is going to be the (unreleased yet) 3G one or the GSM/EDGE one that's already available on lots of markets around the globe. Anyway, since Softbank only offers PCD, UMTS and HSDPA services (hence no GSM), the current version of the iPhone can't work on its networks - hence it's only logical to think that the faster, better and slimmer 3G iPhone will be the one to get a release.

What's a bit curious is that Apple didn't strike a deal with NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in Japan, which has 53 million subscribers (as opposed to Softbank's almost 19 million). Or maybe the Cupertino company did try to sign an agreement with NTT but they did not agree on financial terms - who knows?

Anyway, the important thing is that Japan will finally get a piece of Apple-branded "mobile touchscreenery". It will be interesting to see how the iPhone appeals to Japanese users, since most of them - although crazy about high-tech gadgets - are not blown away by touchscreen handsets and rather prefer classic mobile phones.